Carmacks has been provided with 5,000 sandbags as the Nordenskiold River threatens to overflow its banks.

And the Yukon's river watchdog is on his way to Old Crow today to monitor the Porcupine River, which rose 1.5 metres in front of the community between midnight last night and noon today.

Ric Janowicz, manager of the Yukon's hydrology department, said late this morning the overnight rise is significant, though there are still another five or six metres between the river level and the community elevation.

"There is some kind of jam downstream," he said.

Janowicz was already scheduled to leave Thursday for the remote community of 300 on a routine ice patrol.

He moved up his departure plans to today so he could fly the river and get a better idea of what's happening downstream.

Government spokesman George Maratos said at lunch time today officials with the Emergency Measures Organization (EMO) are scheduled to visit Old Crow tomorrow to meet with the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation.

The meeting is simply to discuss how the EMO could assist the community in case of a flood, and was scheduled well before last night's rise of the Porcupine, he said.

Maratos said the Village of Carmacks requested the sandbags Tuesday as a precautionary measure, as the top of the Nordenskiold was within 30 centimetres (12 inches) of the deck on the Nordenskiold River Bridge.

Several residents live along the Nordenskiold.

The ice on the Yukon River at Carmacks remains intact, though breakup occurred at Dawson City at 12:17 p.m. last Sunday. (See coverage, p. 4.)

Maratos said EMO officials met with residents in Upper Liard, west of Watson Lake, last night to ensure they are aware and prepared for the flood conditions that have been forecast for their area in early June.

There are some eight to 10 local residents whose properties were flooded to some degree in 2007, and are likely to be affected again this year, he said.

Janowicz and other government officials agree flooding is not likely to occur at Marsh Lake this summer, given the amount of snow that fell across the region of the Upper Yukon River.